This Sept. 1963 picture shows Yogi Berra during his days as catcher for the New York Yankees
Harry Harris / The Associated Press.

By Philip Ewing
Navy Times Staff writer
Monday Jul 20, 2009 14:24:41 EDT

It’s déjà vu all over again: More than 60 years after baseball legend Yogi Berra served as a sailor in World War II, he’s being recognized by the Navy Memorial with this year’s Lone Sailor Award.Berra, famed for his exploits as a New York Yankees catcher and a distinctive manipulator of the English language, exemplifies the Navy’s core values, according to an announcement Monday from the Navy Memorial.

“Our honorees are living examples of how service to country changes lives and helps develop leaders — whether it be in the world of sports, politics, government, the private sector or the arts,” said retired Rear Adm. Edward Walker Jr., president and CEO of the Navy Memorial, in the announcement. “The common theme they all express is that their public service has given them a solid foundation for their careers and instilled in them the enduring values that propels them to continue to ‘serve’ their communities.”

Berra interrupted his baseball career during World War II to enlist in the Navy, and he served aboard a missile boat during the Allied invasion of Normandy in 1944. When the war was over he began playing in the Major Leagues, where he went on to a Hall of Fame career with the Yankees.Also to be honored at the Navy Memorial’s Lone Sailor ceremony in September are Leonard Lauder, chairman of the cosmetics giant Estée Lauder., who is a former Navy supply officer; and Frederick Smith, CEO of FedEx, who is a former Marine officer.

Reprinted from Navy Times with permission